Crook's Corner — Restaurant in Chapel Hill

Crook's Corner is a toss-up, like most restaurants in Carrboro and Chapel Hill (Sandwich, One, and Whitney Dane are the only exceptions I can think of off the top of my head). With a rotating door of students and locals trapped within a 5-mile radius, the desire to provide innovative cuisine is non-existent; Crook's will never be starved for customers, and this informs a lot of their mostly lackluster menu decisions. Crook's Corner may have warranted its high-marks long before I first ate there, but those days are long past if their menu, service, and food are what's being measured. Today it's a restaurant that softly attempts to introduce non-southern folk to a slice of the south while catering to a largely non-southern customer-base.

Here's how their menu as of today breaks down:

"Seasonal Firsts and not so Small Plates" *Chicken Creole Soup - first, this is on the menu year round, second it's too salty. Year round. *Pinto bean and turnip green soup - bland and too salty. Not year round. *Macaroni and Cheese - macaroni wasn't made here, cheese wasn't made here, (how is this seasonal?), too salty, and absolutely not made to order. Year round. *Fresh grilled vegetable salad - haven't tried it, but I don't trust egg quality (outside of pastry and confectionary) in restaurants unless I'm paying out the nose for my meal. Not year round.

"Classic Firsts and not so Small Plates" *Jalapeno-Cheddar Hushpuppies - bland and boring, no discernible heat, usually over-fried (too crispy), and oftentimes arrive on the cooler side. Year round. *Cracker Plate - very tasty, though they should opt for better crackers and better cheddar. We live in the south, not Wisconsin. Year round. *Hoppin' John - Terrible. Bland, under-seasoned in every way imaginable. Beans may as well, and probably do come from a can. Year round. *All of their salads - they're salads. The shrimp aren't fresh. Year round. *Crook's Hamburger - I eat meat blue-rare or rare. If a restaurant is uncomfortable with their proteins, they'll cook everything to Medium. All meat served at Crook's is cooked to Medium. Year round.

"Seasonal Mains" *Durham Oyster Mushroom Risotto - salty, bland, and mushy. *Bill Smiths Soft Shell Crabs - Delicious. Absolutely delicious. *Blues are Running - Delicious. Absolutely delicious - this is where some of the strength lies in Bill's cooking - this is a fantastic dish (though I think the grits are generally marginal) that highlights a local fish that is VERY off-putting to people outside the south. Bluefish are notoriously difficult to cook, are very oily, and you cannot fix them or turn them into any other dish after over-cooking. Pan-Fried Cajun Chicken Livers - Delicious. Absolutely delicious. I like my chicken livers raw (Japanese by way of Shimane style), or rare (Madison, Keller, etc.), but this is the only restaurant serving chicken livers in the area before you reach Durham.

"Classic Mains" *Shrimp and Grits - Hands down the most disappointing menu item. Overly salted, shrimp aren't fresh, shrimp are shelled, served without their heads. Without heads the shrimp lose taste; without shells the dish is just mushy (if you haven't try eating shrimp shells, they're delightful). While I can understand shrimp being served headless, the fact that no shrimp heads make it into the mushroom and scallion reduction helps explain the plate's overall bland flavor. Year round. *Carolina Sampler - Nothing special here. *Grilled NY Strip - Awful. I don't know what the meat tastes like as I always order blue-rare or rare, but on 3 separate occasions it has arrived Medium or Well-Done.

"Desserts" *Honeysuckle Sorbet - this is why my family is going to Crook's tonight - this stuff is heaven-sent. I consolidated the salad review to a single line so I could extol this glorious dessert - arguably the best seasonal dessert in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

Crook's is great if you eat at the bar table overlooking the restaurant; people watch, order anything that looks unfamiliar, drink a glass of Ameztoi rosé, and finish off the evening...

Excellent dinner here! Service was on point at the bar and the one drink I had (Old Fashioned) was tasty. I started out with Tuscan Sausage Soup, which was very flavorful with the mustard greens in it. I then had the Grilled Pork Chop for dinner which was very good. It came with New Potatoes, mushrooms, caramelized onions, pickled raisins and almonds. Sounds like it would be overly sweet, right? Not very much at all actually, as the flavors worked with each other quite well without one being too much. Good job on this one!

For dessert, I was a little unsure what to get. I didn't want something over the top sweet or too much of anything either. I opted for the Atlantic Beach Lemon-Lime pie after asking the bartender for ideas. I was not sure what to expect, especially with a saltine crust which was quite thick on the back of the slice. It was delicious! Great dessert with just enough of a tart to it to stave off the heat of the day. I didn't eat the entire crust, as it was a bit more stuck together at the back and I didn't want to make a huge mess.

All in all, great meal. As stated, service was on point and everyone I encountered there was very polite and engaging to make sure my experience was a good one. I can't speak to some of the negatives in other recent reviews, as this was my first time there, but I'll definitely be back to try a few different things when I'm...

My wife and I ate brunch here on June 23, we shared this review via Resy and received no response from the owner or management.

We ordered two coffees, a side of hoppin john and a biscuit, steak and eggs, eggs benedict and a side of grits.

Our coffee sat empty for at least 7 minutes before we flagged down a bus person to refill it. This happened more than once.

The hoppin john was not good, it consisted of a plate of rice and you charged us $8 for it. The tomatoes were old and unripe, the green onions were old and wilted - and again, it was 90% rice 10% black eyed peas.

The biscuit was average.

The eggs benedict was good.

The side of grits were slightly below average, they had sat in the cup for so long it grew a skin on top and overall flavor was lacking.

The steak and eggs, while the steak was good - the eggs were not good, no seasoning, cooked inconsistently - the yolk was somewhat runny but mostly set and yet some of the whites were still uncooked. The most disappointing part of this meal were the potatoes, they were undercooked, unseasoned large hunks of a miserable excuse for potatoes.

We are happy to have tried a new place, but do not intend on returning. We wished the manager would have come around to ask us how our meal was as we would have been happy to share this information with...